Around 2,000 people from the 17,000-strong Karongi camp in western Rwanda marched out of the camp to protest a 25 percent cut in food rations

By Clement Uwiringiyimana

KIGALI, Rwanda, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Congolese refugees in Rwanda said soldiers shot at them and wounded at least two people on Tuesday as the refugees tried to march out of their camp in protest at a cut in food rations.

The move comes as the country seeks to tap into aquifers to meet demand for water.

Limited data on the country’s ground water resources has been cited as one of the barriers hindering irrigation schemes to maximise agricultural production.

By JOHNSON KANAMUGIRE

The Rwandan government is hiring a consulting firm to help in gathering data on ground water reserves in the drought-prone Eastern Province. This comes as the country seeks to tap into aquifers to meet demand for water.

International prices of wheat and maize were generally firmer in January, supported by weather-related concerns and a weaker US dollar. Export price quotations of rice also strengthened mainly buoyed by renewed Asian demand.

In East Africa, in the Sudan, prices of the main staples: sorghum, millet and wheat, rose sharply for the third consecutive month in January and reached record highs, underpinned by the removal of wheat subsidies and the strong depreciation of the Sudanese Pound.

13th February 2018, Mombasa, Kenya: The period between March and May (MAM) constitute an important rainfall season over the equatorial parts of the Greater Horn of Africa (GHA) region. The prediction of MAM 2018 season indicates increased likelihood of near normal to enhanced rainfall over much of the Greater Horn of Africa. However, near normal to depressed rainfall is likely to occur over much of Somalia, southeastern Ethiopia and eastern Kenya.

Nairobi, 15 February 2018- Sometimes, the choices migrants make is dependent on the information, or lack of it, that is available to them. Being informed in a timely and accessible manner remains vital if migrants are to make the right or informed decisions. To ensure this, IOM, the UN Migration Agency has rolled out a mobile app called MigApp to empower migrants in East and Horn of Africa.

Rwandan refugees: The cessation clause invoked by the Republic of Congo (in June 2013) has come to effect on 1 st January 2018. The cessation process impacted about 9,200 Rwandan refugees who were living in RoC since 1997.

CAR refugees: A cross border meeting was organized with UNHCR CAR to prepare the repatriation of 600 CAR refugees.

Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), FAW, is an insect native to tropical and subtropical regions of the Americas. Its larval stage (photo) feeds on more than 80 plant species, including maize, rice, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, vegetable crops, and cotton. FAW can cause significant yield losses if not well managed. It can have a number of generations per year and the moth can fly up to 100 km per night. Its modality of introduction along with its biological and ecological adaptation across Africa are still speculative.

The Government of Rwanda through the Ministry of Disaster Management and Refugees, the Rwanda Directorate General of immigration and Emigration, the National Identification Agency (NIDA) in partnership with the United Nations Agency for Refugees (UNHCR) launched on 9th February, 2018 at OAISIS OF PEACE the Verification Exercise of all Refugees and Asylum seekers living in Rwanda with the purpose of updating information and verifying their physical presence in the country through biometric data.

Rwanda is making arrangements to deliver food assistance to support more than 3,000 families in the Eastern Province who need urgent assistance to combat the worst effects of a prolonged drought.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Animal Resources’ (Minagri), despite other parts of the country recording good harvests in season A this year, which is currently ending, numerous households in Eastern Province have been left stranded with little or no harvests, putting them at a risk of hunger.